Creswell 2003 mixed methods
This template, however, seems to add rigor to design decisions that are needed in primary care and advocated by future analysis of primary care mixed methods investigations might focus on models addressed in the literature but not discussed here. Additional studies could help researchers not only develop a better understanding of mixed methods approaches that are used in sustained programs of inquiry consisting of multiple studies but also refine further the criteria for evaluating the quality of primary care mixed methods studies.
Mixed methods investigations involve integrating quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis in a single study or a program of inquiry. Methods we first identified criteria from the social and behavioral sciences to analyze mixed methods studies in primary care research.
Based on our analysis, we recommend 3 models as organizing frameworks for primary care swe began by identifying criteria for designing a mixed methods study reported in the social and behavioral science literature. 10, 11 these 5 criteria became a coding template for analyzing select mixed methods in primary care locate these studies, we conducted a medline search of the years 1990 to 2001 using the key word descriptors of “multimethod and primary care,” “qualitative and quantitative methods and family medicine/primary care,” and such mesh terms as “research design” and “research methodology.
We also discuss the limitations of our study and the need for future ds: research design/methods, data collection, methods, investigative techniques, social sciences, qualitative researchintroductionwith an expanded use of qualitative research in health services investigations, mixed methods or multimethod research holds potential for rigorous, methodologically sound studies in primary care. Their results highlight this checklist and the weighting of the factors; only a small initial qualitative interview phase to identify the barriers cast this study as a mixed methods investigation.
Unquestionably, mixed methods research is labor-intensive in that it involves multiple stages of data collection and analysis. 3 more recently, investigators emphasized that quantitative and qualitative methods can be mixed, such as in collecting qualitative data before quantitative data where variables are unknown, or using qualitative methods to expand quantitative results to advance study aims.
When used in combination, both quantitative and qualitative data yield a more complete analysis, and they complement each concept of mixed methods research is not new to primary care. Discussion we recommend instrument-building, triangulation, and data transformation models for mixed methods designs as useful frameworks to add rigor to investigations in primary care.
The studies by kutner et al13 and nutting et al16 illustrate this model of mixed methods ulation design modelthe triangulation design model is frequently used in primary care research, although it is more difficult to implement than the sequential instrument design model because of the need to reconcile and bring together numeric (quantitative) and text (qualitative) data. Use of a mixed methods model, with a design based on the rigorous criteria, assumes that investigators possess the resources and the expertise to conduct this form of inquiry.
Furthermore, although the authors from the 5 target articles clearly intended to gather and analyze both quantitative and qualitative data in each study, they might not have intended (or considered) combining or integrating the data, which is a centerpiece of mixed methods designs in the social sciences. Mixed methods inquiry as a new research paradigm has found a breeding ground in the north american primary care research group.
These models do not exhaust the possibilities, but their specification and labeling (table 1 ▶) add to the rigor of mixed methods designs in primary care ment design modelin the instrument design model, priority is given to quantitative data collection and analysis. Ivankova, phd3 1department of educational psychology, university of nebraska-lincoln, lincoln, neb 2department of family medicine, university of michigan health system, ann arbor, mich 3office of qualitative and mixed methods research, university of nebraska-lincoln, lincoln, nebcorresponding author: john w.
Other rationales mentioned in mixed methods studies might state that qualitative data help explore statistical results from quantitative data, or that quantitative outlier or extreme results can be better understood through qualitative data collection. The 5 studies we analyzed here had multiple authors, external funding support, and study teams with expertise in quantitative and qualitative approaches as well as knowledge about current mixed methods models being discussed in the social and behavioral sciences.
Table 1 ▶ displays a summary of results showing the ways the 5 target articles addressed each of the selection hed mixed methods investigations in primary carerationalewe first examined the studies to locate a stated rationale or reason for mixing advanced by the investigators. The study by mcilvain et al15 illustrates this 3 models illustrate some of the possibilities for mixed methods models in primary care.
11 the purpose of the present study was to use criteria available in the literature to analyze 5 published mixed methods studies in primary care. Furthermore, it did not refer to published studies that illustrate mixed methods research or address specific models of mixed methods investigations.
This form of research is more than simply collecting both quantitative and qualitative data; it indicates that data will be integrated, related, or mixed at some stage of the research process. Creswell, phd, department of educational psychology, 241 teachers college bldg, university of nebraska-lincoln, lincoln, ne 68588, @1llewsercjthis work was presented in a research paper presentation at the napcrg meeting in new orleans, la, november 17–20, information ► article notes ► copyright and license information ►received 2002 aug 30; revised 2002 dec 12; accepted 2003 jan ght © copyright 2004 annals of family medicine, article has been cited by other articles in ct background mixed methods or multimethod research holds potential for rigorous, methodologically sound investigations in primary care.
The issue of integration—the stage of the research process at which the data are combined—illustrates the complexity of mixed methods research and the need to be explicit about the model of inquiry being sioncriteria about a rationale, the types of data, and their prioritization, implementation, and integration represent rigorous elements that primary care investigators might use in designing their studies. 20 our coding template for analysis, drawn from the social sciences, might need to be modified to better address the nuances of mixed methods investigations in primary care.
We then used the criteria to evaluate 5 mixed methods investigations published in primary care research journals. The objective of this study was to use criteria from the literature to evaluate 5 mixed methods studies in primary care and to advance 3 models useful for designing such investigations.